1. Technical Field
This invention relates to bathing systems to assist the elderly or infirm and, more particularly, to a tilt lift bathing system having a chair positioned adjacent one end of a bathing vessel or tub, the chair being tilted upwards about a substantially horizontal pivot axis to provide sufficient clearance to allow the chair to be rotated to a position above the tub for lowering the occupant into the tub.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To the elderly or infirm, the act of bathing can present serious difficulties as it is often difficult or impossible for such persons to enter or exit a bathing vessel without some form of assistance. Even with such help, entering and exiting a bathing vessel may still present serious challenges merely due to the weight of the elderly or infirm individual. Therefore, various mechanical forms of bathing assistance have been developed to aid the elderly or infirm in the act of bathing. Without exception, however, these prior art devices suffer from various shortcomings.
The major shortcoming not addressed by the prior art is that when an elderly or infirm patient is lifted above the ground to allow the supporting structure to be placed in a bathtub, the vertical lifting action can cause anxiety or fear in the patient. This is especially true in dealing with very old patients who may already have a great fear of falling due to the brittle nature of their bones, be it real or perceived. Without exception, the prior art discloses bathtub lift systems which vertically lift the chair on which the patient is placed to allow the chair to enter the bathing vessel.
It has been found that the anxiety of an elderly or infirm patient may be greatly decreased if the vertical lifting action of the prior art is replaced by a tilt lift action where the base of the patient's chair is tilted upwards such that the patient may eventually be in a reclining position. There is therefore a need for such a tilt lift bathing system.
Known prior art apparatus for lifting a chair into a from a bathtub fail to teach the tilt lift bathing system of the present invention. For example, Dueth, U.S. Pat. No. 2,697,475, discloses an apparatus for lifting a chair into and from a bath tub, the apparatus including a parallelogram linkage connected to one side of the chair for simultaneously lifting and tilting the chair relative to the linkage. This mechanism, however, is designed for use at the middle of one side of the tub, rather than at the end, and the chair is never rolled upwardly to a position above the vertical pivot axis.
Grant, U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,770, is another example of the known prior art wherein the chair is lifted straight up, rotated into position above the tub and lowered. A patient using the Grant apparatus would thus experience great anxiety due to the vertical lifting process in a seated position, which is undesirable.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt lift bathing system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tilt lift bathing system which tilts the seated patient upwards about a substantially horizontal pivot axis to provide clearance for rotation of the seated patient over the bathtub.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tilt lift bathing system which will substantially reduces the risk of a patient falling from the chair when the chair is elevated above the bathtub.
A related object of the present invention is to provide a tilt lift bathing system which substantially eliminates or decreases the fear and anxiety experienced by persons lifted by the system of the present invention.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt lift bathing system which is durable in construction and safe in use.